Press Release
Free Press asks FCC to stop Media General from evading ownership rules
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON — Free Press, the national, nonpartisan media reform group, today petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to turn down Media General's request to avoid FCC ownership rules. Media General is seeking a waiver that would allow it to operate a television station and newspaper in the same market indefinitely.
In April 2000, Media General acquired WRBL-TV in Columbus, Ga. Just four months later, it also purchased the Opelika-Auburn News, the sole daily newspaper published on Lee County, Ala. – located 30 miles away from the television station. The FCC's newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule prevents common ownership of a daily paper and TV station in the same area.
"Media General gambled that the FCC would undo the cross-ownership rule before its license in Columbus came up for renewal," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press. "But the federal courts, following a widespread public outcry, rightly rejected the FCC's attempts to change the rules. Media General wants the FCC to use a loophole to waive the rules anyway."
Free Press' petition asks the FCC to reject the company's request for a waiver and deny Media General's renewal of the broadcast license at WRBL. Free Press is represented by Georgetown University's Institute for Public Representation and Media Access Project, which filed a similar challenge in November, when Media General sought a waiver to operate a television station and daily newspaper in Florence, S.C.
"If one company is awarded a near-monopoly on local news, viewers will only get one point of view," said Angela Campbell, an attorney with the Institute for Public Representation. "Media General has made no effort to comply with FCC rules in the past four years, and they shouldn't now be even given a temporary waiver – let alone a permanent one."
Read a summary of the petition to deny.
Read the full text of the petition.
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Free Press (www.freepress.net) is a national, nonpartisan organization that seeks to increase informed public participation in media policy and to promote a more competitive, public-interest-oriented media system.
The Institute for Public Representation (IPR) is a public interest law firm and clinical education program founded by Georgetown University Law Center in 1971. The Institute works in the areas of communications law, environmental law, civil rights and general public interest matters.
Media Access Project (www.mediaaccess.org) is a 30-year-old non-profit, tax-exempt public interest telecommunications law firm that promotes the public's First Amendment right to hear and be heard on the electronic media of today and tomorrow.
In April 2000, Media General acquired WRBL-TV in Columbus, Ga. Just four months later, it also purchased the Opelika-Auburn News, the sole daily newspaper published on Lee County, Ala. – located 30 miles away from the television station. The FCC's newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule prevents common ownership of a daily paper and TV station in the same area.
"Media General gambled that the FCC would undo the cross-ownership rule before its license in Columbus came up for renewal," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press. "But the federal courts, following a widespread public outcry, rightly rejected the FCC's attempts to change the rules. Media General wants the FCC to use a loophole to waive the rules anyway."
Free Press' petition asks the FCC to reject the company's request for a waiver and deny Media General's renewal of the broadcast license at WRBL. Free Press is represented by Georgetown University's Institute for Public Representation and Media Access Project, which filed a similar challenge in November, when Media General sought a waiver to operate a television station and daily newspaper in Florence, S.C.
"If one company is awarded a near-monopoly on local news, viewers will only get one point of view," said Angela Campbell, an attorney with the Institute for Public Representation. "Media General has made no effort to comply with FCC rules in the past four years, and they shouldn't now be even given a temporary waiver – let alone a permanent one."
Read a summary of the petition to deny.
Read the full text of the petition.
###
Free Press (www.freepress.net) is a national, nonpartisan organization that seeks to increase informed public participation in media policy and to promote a more competitive, public-interest-oriented media system.
The Institute for Public Representation (IPR) is a public interest law firm and clinical education program founded by Georgetown University Law Center in 1971. The Institute works in the areas of communications law, environmental law, civil rights and general public interest matters.
Media Access Project (www.mediaaccess.org) is a 30-year-old non-profit, tax-exempt public interest telecommunications law firm that promotes the public's First Amendment right to hear and be heard on the electronic media of today and tomorrow.
